Why we invested in SunRoof?☀️
Rain or shine, solar energy is the future. We’re a part of it now.
We can finally come out of the shadow and shed some light on why Inovo Venture Partners led a €4.5m Seed extension round of SunRoof!
If you’ve asked us a year or two ago if we would invest in a startup where a large physical component is a fundamental part of the offering, our first reaction most probably would be a “no”. So how did SunRoof win our hearts?
More than a ‘moment in the sun’
I. PVs prices have fallen by >90% over the past two decades, moreover:
- it’s estimated they will decrease further by 20% in the next 5 years
- current IRR for PV panels is around 17%
- meaning that payback time is only 5–7 years
II. The solar energy market is booming
Growing with a CAGR of 20–25%, it is estimated to reach $334 billion by 2026, while the residential side is responsible for around 20% of the industry.
III. Regulatory environment is clear — green is the way to go
European Green Deal provides actions to make EU climate neutral by 2050.
Reaching this target includes: decarbonizing the energy sector and ensuring buildings are more energy efficient.
Moreover, some states in Germany already declare that in the future, they won’t allow building a new construction without a solar energy solution.
There is nothing new under the sun?
‘Stay ambitious, we have your back’ — as our motto may suggest, ambition is one of the most desired traits we look for. SunRoof’s team checks that box without a doubt. But what makes them different than ‘traditional’ PV sellers?
The bet is not “only” about scaling the sales of aesthetic* and highly efficient building-integrated solar rooftops or targeting a different audience (people who are just planning to build a house). It is about building a network of smart, connected solar homes, where people can:
1. manage their household’s energy needs via a single mobile app (✅)
2. actually earn additional money by selling the surplus energy or, coupled with a battery, enabling load balancing in peak hours (🔜)
Sales are currently underway in Sweden, Germany, and Poland, with pilots also in Italy and Spain. Next stop: the US. Again, it’s just the beginning.
* speaking of aesthetics, we’ve actually made a meme:
Supporting such a team is like walking on sunshine
The company’s main shareholder and CEO, Lech Kaniuk, is a founder with several years of entrepreneurial experience. Lech has to his credit a very successful sale of PizzaPortal.pl to Delivery Hero, where he worked post-exit. The other partners and management team are also entrepreneurs with years of international experience in tech companies — co-founders Marek Zmysłowski (ex-Jumia Travel and HotelOnline.co), and former Google executive, Rafal Plutecki, as well as ex-Tesla Sales Manager, Robert Bruchner.
Current growth rate? 8x year on year.
And we’re pretty sure that they will not only maintain it, but even accelerate.
Psst: SunRoof plans to add ~100+ employees within the next 12 months!
Make sure to follow them on LinkedIn and stay up to date!
Inovo Venture Partners is a first-choice VC for ambitious founders from Poland and the CEE region. We back early-stage, post-traction startups with up to €3M of initial investment, and help them build global brands while driving growth of the local startup ecosystem. We take great pride in being close to top founders who think big. We’re investors in: Booksy, Restaumatic, Sotrender, Infermedica, Spacelift, Tidio, AI Clearing, Zowie, Jutro Medical, Intiaro, Packhelp, Preply, Eyerim, Allset, SunRoof. Our second fund reached a total of €54M.
For more information visit: inovo.vc
